William Brereton (groom)

Sir William Brereton
Born	c. 1487 Cheshire
Died	17 May 1536 (aged 48–49) Tower Hill, London
Cause of death	Decapitation
Resting place	Tower of London, London, United Kingdom 51°30′31″N 0°04′37″W / 51.508611°N 0.076944°W / 51.508611; -0.076944
Occupation	Groom of the Privy Chamber to Henry VIII
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Somerset (Lady Savage)
Children	Henry Thomas
Parent(s)	Sir Randle Brereton Eleanor Dutton

Sir William Brereton (c. 1487 – 17 May 1536), the son of a Cheshire landowner, was a Groom of the Privy Chamber to Henry VIII. In May 1536, Brereton, the queen's brother, George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston and a musician, Mark Smeaton, were tried and executed for treason and adultery with Anne Boleyn, the king's second wife. Many historians are now of the opinion that Anne Boleyn, Brereton and their co-accused were innocent.

William Brereton, born between 1487 and 1490, was the seventh son of Sir Randle Brereton of Ipstones, Shocklach, and Malpas, Knight Chamberlain of Chester, knight banneret and knight of the body of Henry VII. His mother was Eleanor, daughter of Piers Dutton of Halton, Cheshire. Along with three of his brothers, William entered royal service. By 1521 he was a groom of the king's chamber, and from 1524, groom of the privy chamber.

In 1529, Brereton married Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, widow of Sir John Savage, and second cousin to Henry VIII. He and Elizabeth had two sons:

Elizabeth’s first husband was the grandson of Sir John Savage, who had been a Lancastrian commander at the battle of Bosworth in 1485. When the grandson had fallen into debt, and was also being held in the Tower for murder, all his lands were forfeited to the crown, and Brereton, as the king’s man in Cheshire, was granted jurisdiction over them. After Sir John Savage's death, Brereton’s marriage to his widow established a family relationship with the king and thus cemented his position as a royal servant.

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